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The pair said they felt like they were “competing against the clock” to keep Edie in the womb as long as possible.

She added: “While they were doing everything they could for us we were also being prepared for the worst: that if I went in to labour, our baby’s chances were very slim.

“And the worst part was knowing that, while she was still inside me, she was healthy and well.

“While they were telling me that she would probably die I could feel her moving.”

The following day Nicola was told she could be given steroids and magnesium to mature the baby’s lungs and brain because she was edging towards the vital 24-week mark with no further signs of labour.

“The relief we felt at that point was immense,” she added.

“We were clutching onto even the smallest bit of positive news and this meant that the doctors felt that we were approaching a point where our baby could live.”

But only a few hours after her first course of steroids Nicola went into labour.

The couple were rushed to the hospital’s delivery suite where they could hear their baby’s heart beating.

But as soon as Nicola’s waters broke it started to fade.

Knowing that she was losing her Nicola used all her strength to push.

Edie was absolutely tiny when she was born (Image: UGC)

Baby Edie was born at 8.08am weighing 580 grams (1.2lb) just 23 weeks and four days into Nicola’s pregnancy.

Nicola added: “We only got to see Edie for a few seconds before she was taken away.

“We were terrified to look but we couldn’t not. She was tiny, her eyes were still fused shut, her skin was translucent, and she was terribly bruised from the delivery.

“They told us that she was extremely weak and that her odds weren’t good.

“But just as she went her leg moved. Among all the shock of the last few days, the horror of the delivery, and then the tragedy that we were now expecting to unfold that gave me the tiniest bit of hope.”

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Against the odds, and following a brain bleed at just a few days old, Edie’s honeymoon period lasted well into her second week.

And after only five days her lungs were working well enough to move on to a less invasive form of ventilation called BCV (biphasic curiass ventilation).

But as Edie was so small her body wasn’t strong enough to support even the smallest-sized equipment needed to administer it.

Her medical team said they had no option but to alternate with the original ventilator.

Edie with her mum Nicola and dad David (Image: UGC)

At two weeks old Edie developed an infection which meant she needed the support of the ventilator full-time.

An X-ray revealed that her lungs were almost filled entirely with inflammation.

To combat her deteriorating condition her dependency on the ventilator was increased several times.

Although it was keeping her alive in the short-term her parents knew that the longer Edie spent on the ventilator the less likely she was to survive.

Doctors then told the parents that their fragile child was almost at the end of the support they could provide and that once the ventilator was at full pressure there was nothing more they could do. “That was the worst day of my life,” Nicola added.

“I felt sadness that was almost too overwhelming to bear. We’d spent hours sitting helplessly at Edie’s bedside, swinging between good days where nothing much happened and bad days when the alarms she was attached to rung constantly in our ears.

“And now we were facing the imminent prospect of leaving hospital without her, that Edie had fought all she could and her little body had nothing left. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare and we were living it.”

In a last attempt to get Edie off the ventilator her doctors started to administer a course of steroids. It was a decision that bought her back from the brink.

Slowly, over the next few weeks, Edie gained enough strength to go from the ventilator to BCV.

Edie looking much bigger (Image: UGC)

And at six weeks old she was well enough to move on to high flow – the least invasive form of ventilation.

Despite many other setbacks she faced during that time, including the need for five blood transfusions to boost her haemoglobin levels, Edie started to improve. Although Nicola and David were told that Edie may need medication with numerous scary side effects to close a dangerous hole in her heart, the hole began to close unaided.

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At 73 days old Edie was moved from intensive care to the high dependency unit.

And 11 days after that she underwent an operation to correct the growth of abnormal blood vessels in her eyes.

Despite a temporary setback she was well enough to go home with her mum and dad a short time later.

She reached her official due date on May 28 – at 116 days old.

Edie was 116 days old on her due date

The neonatal unit at UHW currently treats around 560 babies a year and is the only facility in Wales to provide treatment for newborns needing surgery.

To help premature babies, the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity has received a £208,000 donation from the Morrisons Foundation.

The donation from the supermarket giants will buy a mobile X-ray machine and four specialist incubators for the Tiny Lives Appeal, which aims to raise £1m for the neonatal unit .

The mobile X-ray will allow doctors to diagnose and respond quickly to a vulnerable baby’s condition and the incubators are vital pieces of equipment which reduce the risk of infection while creating a womb-like environment where babies can grow and gain strength.

“They can develop rapidly, changing a baby’s condition from relatively stable to acutely ill within a very short space of time. That’s why it’s essential that the dedicated medical team have the right equipment on hand to respond quickly and effectively.

“Our charity is delighted to be working alongside the Morrisons Foundation on this hugely important appeal.

“The equipment that the donation will fund will help to save the lives of more babies like Edie who are among some of the smallest and unwell in Wales.

“Thanks to this award more babies like her will eventually get to go home to their families.”